100 year old story and half to 2 story PROJECT

Hi, my name is Branden, this is my first post. I am not new to DIY and projects but am new to the forums. I live in south west Ohio.

My wife and I purchased a 100 year old story and a half house 5 years ago. "our first home" Since we have done several small and large projects.

We build a 20 x 15 foot TREX deck, gutted and completely redone the kitchen, updated the electric and service and pulled the drop ceilings and paneling.

Recently we found out that our roof was leaking and damaged after a bad hail storm. We filed a insurance claim and found out that despite them taking our money for the past 5 years and no mention of a "bad roof" when we purchased the house from any inspectors that we were going to have to pay for it out of pocket. We have had several companyís quote the roof and tell us it will need a complete tear off and re-sheet. We found that we currently have 3 asphalt layers and a layer of shake.So it is going to be an extensive job.

This brought us to the conclusion that if we were going to complete tear off why not build the half story "attic" to a full second story? The usable space in the half a$$ed finished attic would be able to be turned into at least 2 bedrooms and a full bath. The roof rafters are currently stick built and we have one gable end and one pitched end with a dormer. My idea would be to build up or extend off the board that the rafters set on for an 8 foot celling and go with prebuilt roof rafters from one of the big box hardware stores, keeping the pitch the same and having 2 gable ends. This will allow me to have an attic on top of this and do ridge vent like I want on my new roof anyways.

I donít plan on finishing the interior immediately but will down the road.

My question is how do I find out if my foundation can support making the half a full story? Iím guessing that the old OAK stick build and the 4 layers of roof couldnít possibly weigh as much using pre-engineered particle board rafters and pine walls!

My idea is to pre build sections of the walls, and attach them to the top plate where the current rafters are attached as soon as we tear them off. Then lift the pre frabbed rafters into place and sheet it the same day. I can cover and wrap the walls first and side later. The insulation electric, plumbing can all be done before I do the finishing work at a later date.

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Hire a structural engineer to come in and take a look. Your ceiling rafters were probably never intended to handle the loads a floor has to take, And you will have to consider heating and cooling too.

I know that houses in my neighborhood built in the 50s required a whole new flooring/ceiling system and the windows required beefier headers installed above each one. At the each side of the house multiple 2x6s were installed at to support a lam-beam and non load Bering walls had to be beefed up to become load bearing walls.

Hi, my name is Branden, this is my first post. I am not new to DIY and projects but am new to the forums. I live in south west Ohio.

My wife and I purchased a 100 year old story and a half house 5 years ago. "our first home" Since we have done several small and large projects.

We build a 20 x 15 foot TREX deck, gutted and completely redone the kitchen, updated the electric and service and pulled the drop ceilings and paneling.

Recently we found out that our roof was leaking and damaged after a bad hail storm. We filed a insurance claim and found out that despite them taking our money for the past 5 years and no mention of a "bad roof" when we purchased the house from any inspectors that we were going to have to pay for it out of pocket. We have had several company’s quote the roof and tell us it will need a complete tear off and re-sheet. We found that we currently have 3 asphalt layers and a layer of shake.So it is going to be an extensive job.

This brought us to the conclusion that if we were going to complete tear off why not build the half story "attic" to a full second story? The usable space in the half a$$ed finished attic would be able to be turned into at least 2 bedrooms and a full bath. The roof rafters are currently stick built and we have one gable end and one pitched end with a dormer. My idea would be to build up or extend off the board that the rafters set on for an 8 foot celling and go with prebuilt roof rafters from one of the big box hardware stores, keeping the pitch the same and having 2 gable ends. This will allow me to have an attic on top of this and do ridge vent like I want on my new roof anyways.

I don’t plan on finishing the interior immediately but will down the road.

My question is how do I find out if my foundation can support making the half a full story? I’m guessing that the old OAK stick build and the 4 layers of roof couldn’t possibly weigh as much using pre-engineered particle board rafters and pine walls!

My idea is to pre build sections of the walls, and attach them to the top plate where the current rafters are attached as soon as we tear them off. Then lift the pre frabbed rafters into place and sheet it the same day. I can cover and wrap the walls first and side later. The insulation electric, plumbing can all be done before I do the finishing work at a later date.

What I am looking for is some suggestions, tips etc?

Thanks,Branden

you will have to have an engineer examine your footings to determine weight capacity.

also, you would need your floor sheathing put down on the upper floor before any walls are to built for that floor.

after existing roof comes off the first floor ceiling system( new upper floor system) will need to be fortified/ built and sheathed and then walls go onto that new/fortified floor/ceiling system.

this is generally how it goes, with correct planning and know how there are ways to work around standard practice though

I will post a few pictures later today when I get home from work. A permit will be required for the roof, and because it is a complete tear off it is considered a building permit. I will have to submit plans etc.

Currently the attic is finished but only about 1/3 of it is usable space, The floor / ceiling joists have not been an issue but can be addressed if needed. There is currently a sub and carpet that would need pulled to check.

Also all of the windows have been recently replaced and I would think that they are headed off correctly or over built like most of the rest of the house. But short of pulling the drywall I wouldnít know how to check?

Also it might be worth mentioning that it is built on a half crawl and half-finished basement.